The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management director updated lawmakers, and outlined a “significant cleanup mission” planned for this summer. Rep. Nellie Jimmie, a Democrat from Toksook Bay, broke down in tears recounting her experience there the night ex-Typhoon Halong made landfall on the west coast of Alaska in October. “We didn’t sleep the whole night, and this was the first time I’ve ever felt so helpless, where I knew I couldn’t protect my own daughter,” she told fellow lawmakers at a joint hearing with the House Tribal…
Posts published in “World”
The cocaine market exploded between 2014 and 2023. Production in Colombia increased more than sevenfold to nearly 2,700 tonnes, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Behind the scenes, drug traffickers find equally illicit ways to pay their suppliers and foot soldiers, or to spend the proceeds of their criminal trade. Their solution? Money laundering. It is estimated that 25% of the funds collected is laundered. Criminals generally launder money in three stages: firstly, they inject it into the financial system; secondly, they layer it with…
Few ideas in global finance generate as much anxiety as de-dollarization. To some Western observers, any attempt to reduce reliance on the US dollar is automatically framed as a political challenge to American power. Yet for much of the developing world, the conversation is far less ideological and far more practical. The push to diversify global payment systems and promote the use of local currencies is not about confrontation; it is a response to economic realities that many countries have lived with for decades. The dominance of the dollar has…
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump once again turned on the klieg lights by launching a new major international initiative – the “Board of Peace.” Though this multilateral body is supposed to start with managing the post-conflict restoration and future development of the Gaza Strip, many argue that its real goal has a larger scale and might reflect the US president’s ambition to find an efficient alternative to the UN, which he shows no respect for. If the pilot Gaza project turns out to be a success story, this model…
Actively promoting the reform process of the international financial system to adapt to changes in the global economic landscape is not only essential for advancing the international order toward a more just and equitable direction, but also a reasonable demand of the vast majority of developing countries. On December 27, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), now a World Bank institution, celebrate 80 years since they officially came into existence in late 1945. These institutions became the two main pillars of the…
Determined to push back against online falsehoods, the French state is turning to facts, humour and a new digital voice to challenge misleading narratives wherever they spread. France has set up a new digital rapid-response unit – titled “French Response” – to push back against what it sees as a rising tide of online disinformation, and it wasted little time making its presence felt. When the US secretary of state Marco Rubio took a swipe at European culture on X this week, the English-language account run by the French foreign…
Red flags that both job seekers and employers should watch for, in an era of AI slop and application scams. Hello world, My name is Andrew Losowsky, and I’m Product Director & Editor at The Markup and CalMatters. A few months ago, we wanted to hire a new engineer. Hiring is always a lengthy process, but this time I had to wade through what felt like an ocean of generative AI slop. Fake and exaggerated resumes have always existed, but now, thanks to the rise of AI tools, it’s incredibly…
The renewed campaign by United States President Donald Trump to acquire Greenland has escalated, with tariff threats against European allies. Asked on Tuesday how far he is willing to go to “acquire” Greenland, Trump replied: “You’ll find out”. This is the latest episode in a long-running effort under Trump 2.0 to remake the international order with major geopolitical implications: There is a chance of both escalation and de-escalation when Trump holds meetings this week on Greenland with European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. US–Greenland relations and…
U.S. allies in Europe are banding together against President Donald Trump’s ultimatum: tax imported goods from their countries unless Denmark surrenders control of strategically important Greenland. Trump said that U.S. ownership of Greenland – an 800,000-square-mile Arctic island and Danish territory – is vital to national security. He says Denmark cannot defend its mineral-rich territory from China and Russia. On Monday, Trump criticized NATO, saying the alliance has failed to compel Denmark to comply. “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat…
There are no Chinese warships operating in Greenland and no significant Chinese investments in the region, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in Washington on Wednesday, as he countered US threats to seize the Arctic island. Rasmussen, together with Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, had an hourlong meeting with US Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, the first face-to-face meeting between the high-level officials as Washington’s rhetoric of taking full control Greenland has run high. “It was a great opportunity also for…